The Book, the Skeletons, and the Man in the Golden Armor
by QueenOfDragons2
Summary: After finding another enclave of monsters, a man wearing golden armor shows up, intent on ending monsterkind. It's up to Frisk and Flowey to find a way to stop him, but is that all there is to it?
1. Introductions

The moonlight shone through the window, casting a pale square on the floor. It would've been more obvious had it not been for the lit lamp on the nightstand. It was quiet and cooler than usual for the season.

Frisk thumbed through the books on their bookshelf, wishing they had more about—

"Come on, just pick something already!" Flowey yelled from the nightstand.

The flower tended to be belligerent when he was tired. At least, more so than usual. Frisk grabbed a novel and sat down on the bed. The nightstand was next to the head of the bed, so it was easy for Frisk to hold the book so both of them could see.

The novel was about two brothers and branched off into two "timelines" about a fourth of the way through; in the first, the younger brother was killed by the main villain, while in the second he was saved by the older brother at the cost of the latter's life. It wasn't exactly for children, but Frisk had figured they could handle it after everything they had gone through in the Underground.

Flowey was silent as Frisk opened the book and started reading.

On the fifth page, Flowey suddenly said, "These guys are reminding me of Sans and Papyrus."

Frisk nodded in agreement.

After Frisk turned the page, Flowey spoke up again. "It's weird how Papyrus thinks that he isn't important. Told me so himself more than a few times."

Frisk looked at Flowey, curious.

"One time, I decided to see what would happen if Papyrus, and only Papyrus, died. So I killed him… Made a whole tree limb drop on him while he was in the forest. It didn't kill him right away, so I had enough time to take off his scarf. I had to make sure it wouldn't turn to dust with the rest of him. Once he did… I made sure the scarf was stuck under the tree limb and was covered in his dust. And then I waited. And waited. …And waited."

Frisk laid the book down. Flowey had been living with them for a few months, and not once had he talked about his past runs.

"Eventually he was found…by none other than Smiley Trashbag. After a while, _he_ was found by the Dogi. I thought he would cry after finding his brother's dust. He was definitely upset. Of course, he had buried his face in Papyrus' scarf, so it was hard to tell."

Flowey had a nostalgic smile on his face, but his petals were drooping. He looked almost…sad?

"Smiley Trashbag didn't even show up for the funeral. Undyne did. Most of Snowdin did. Heck, even Gerson and the River Person showed up. But not him. At least, not until everyone but Undyne had left. That time, I actually heard him crying. Not as much as I would've thought, but still. I don't know what they put Papyrus' dust on. After the funeral, Smiley Trashbag stayed in his room most of the time."

"How could you tell?" Frisk asked.

"I looked in through the window. I couldn't be there all the time, though. I can only stay stretched like that for so long, and I didn't want to risk him seeing me. Besides, he was boring to watch most of the time. All he'd do was lie in bed. He'd get up whenever Undyne came to check on him, though…for the first two weeks. After that, he'd tell her to go away whenever she barged into his room. A month after the funeral, she stopped coming. I saw her stop by the door to the house a few times, but she didn't go in. The rest of the Snowdin townsfolk kept checking on him, especially the dogs.

"Back then, I was more patient, so I could stand waiting a while for his reaction. And he had occasional moments that made my wait worth it. For example…I kept hearing him say things like 'When is it going to end? When is it going to go back?' I was so confused at the time. I didn't think he knew about the resets. But that was about as interesting as it got. The day Undyne stopped checking on him, he stopped doing or saying anything. He just lied in bed all day and night. In hindsight, I think he was waiting for the reset. If I had waited a few more days, maybe he would've… Well, anyway."

Frisk shifted around, feeling like they should say something but unsure what to actually say.

"I was in Snowdin forest when I got an idea: what would've happened if Papyrus came back? Obviously, I had to reset, but it was a compelling idea. After I reset, I knocked out Papyrus, stole his scarf, and trapped him in a cave deep in the forest. To fake his death, I used the dust of a few Moldsmals. The setup was the same as before; dust under a tree limb, his scarf caught under it… And I had to do all of that without getting spotted by Alphys' cameras. I knew where all the blind spots were, but it was still wasn't easy. It all went the same after that. The only difference was that the fish guy pointed out that there wasn't as much dust as there should've been, but he assumed that was because some of it was blown away. I had to keep checking on Papyrus to make sure he didn't die or escape early. It was harder than I thought it'd be, but that was what made it fun.

"After a month had passed, on the day Undyne stopped checking on Smiley Trashbag…I let Papyrus go. I had to make it seem like he had escaped on his own, obviously. They would've figured out what had really happened sooner or later, but that reaction wasn't what I was trying to get. Anyway, I followed him through the forest. I was genuinely worried that he would die. Not out of concern for him, mind you, but because it would've made all my efforts pointless. He hadn't eaten the whole time he was in the cave, and the blizzard that had started up only made getting back to Snowdin harder, so it was definitely a valid concern. I think he knew that too. He ended up collapsing from exhaustion in front of Doggo's station. Fortunately for him, Doggo was still there. He carried Papyrus back to Snowdin. Everyone was so happy that Papyrus was alive. Especially Smiley Trashbag. …I've never seen him cry so hard and so much, before or since. I tried to do the same thing with him the next time I reset. It was…a lot harder than I thought it would be."

Frisk smirked. As horrible as the memory was, they knew exactly what Flowey was talking about.

"It was interesting to realize just what kind of effect those skeletons had on the town. There was a lot more to them than I thought. Especially Papyrus. I could probably talk about him for days."

"Why'd you tell me about that, er, 'run?'"

Flowey looked thoughtful, as though wondering that himself. "…I don't know. I guess I just felt like it."

Frisk put the book on a shelf in the nightstand. It was late enough after listening to Flowey, and Toriel didn't like it when they stayed up too late.

"Goodnight Flowey," Frisk said before turning off the lamp.

Several minutes later, when Flowey was sure Frisk was asleep, he begrudgingly mumbled, "Goodnight Frisk."

Frisk, who was actually still awake, smirked.

0~*~0

"Hello Samuel."

He didn't need to look to know who it was. "Rick."

The slender man gave a lopsided smile. "Nice night out, isn't it?"

Samuel glared at a monster dog walking a normal dog on the other side of the street. "It could be better."

"Yeah, friggin' monsters."

"I see them every day," Samuel snarled. "I'd relocate if I had the money."

"The sign doesn't keep 'em out?" Rick said, motioning to the 'No Monsters Allowed' sign that hung in the window of the closed restaurant.

Samuel crossed his arms. "The monster haters do."

"They treating you well?"

"Yes. My restaurant's the only public place they can meet and not risk getting kicked out, so they know to be nice to me and my staff. Well, most of them. Honestly, they scare me sometimes. But they're my main customers now, so I can't complain much."

The two men stood there in silence for a while.

"By the way," Rick said, "didja hear they're tryin' to pass a law that'll make it illegal to refuse service to monsters?"

Samuel put his hand over his face and groaned.

"You know, like they did with blacks a long time ago. Blacks are actually the most vocal about these anti-discrimination laws after the monsters. Said that—"

"Yes, but black people are people. They have the right to be treated equally. Hell, everyone's descended from Africans if you go back far enough."

"Really?"

"Yes, but that's not my point. The monsters aren't human. Some of them aren't even sentient."

"The skeletons are kinda human-like—"

"There's only two that I know of. And they're more monster than human."

There were a few minutes of silence before Rick spoke up. "I've heard that monster SOULs are made of hope, love, and compassion, and that human SOULs don't need those to exist. The second part's definitely true."

"But that doesn't mean that all monsters are good."

Rick, surprised by Samuel's comment, raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"There's a very specific reason as to why I hate monsters as much as I do."

"W-Why?"

"All I'll say is this." Samuel turned to look Rick straight in the eye. "Do you really think that they managed to seal every single monster underground?"

With a flourish, Samuel turned and walked away, leaving Rick to stare after him in shock.

 **Author's note: Is anyone else having issues uploading files to the Doc Manager?**


	2. A New Monster

With morning came the smell of cinnamon-butterscotch pie and the sound of Flowey grumbling for Frisk to wake up. They considered sleeping in to annoy Flowey, especially since it was summer break and thus had no important reason to get up early.

 _ *** You should still get up.**_

"Not you too," Frisk mumbled.

"What?" Flowey said.

Frisk begrudgingly sat up. "Nothing."

0~*~0

"All right, now what does this map say…?" Toriel said as she looked over the map.

It was after lunch, and Toriel had taken Frisk and Flowey to a hiking trail she had recently found out about. She was currently looking over the map of the area she had brought along. They weren't lost; far from it, in fact; Toriel just wasn't sure where the trail continued from where they were.

Flowey, his head poking out of Frisk's backpack, said, "They should really do a better job of maintaining this trail."

Frisk had to agree; there was a lot of overgrowth on the trail, which was covered in decaying wood chips. Near where they were was a small river bridged by a fallen tree. It looked sturdy enough for Frisk to walk across.

As Toriel tried to figure out the map, Frisk looked over at the other side of the river. There was a hill blanketed with trees and other plants, like bushes, ferns, flowers, and something…moving…

Frisk stared at the other side of the river, wondering what kind of animal was over there. When it emerged from the underbrush, however…

 _ *** …That's no animal. It's a monster.**_

It wore clothing, was a gray color, walked on two legs, and had small, pointed ears. It was holding something bowl-shaped, but Frisk couldn't tell what it was. It seemed about as tall as they were.

Flowey whispered, "What the…?"

Before Flowey could say anything else, Frisk took off and started across the tree bridge. When they were halfway across, the small monster noticed them and ran off. Frisk picked up their pace and went into the underbrush just as the other monster disappeared into it. Frisk nearly ran into several bushes and trees as they fought to keep up with the small monster. Flowey kept giving directions.

"Right! Left! Turn around! No wait, go left!"

About a minute later, Frisk heard their cell phone go off. They ignored it. The mystery of the other monster was more important.

After a few more minutes of running, Flowey stopped giving directions.

"What's wrong?" Frisk called back.

"I…don't see them anymore," Flowey replied.

Frisk slowed down to a stop and looked around. He was right. There was no sign of the small monster or of anything else moving.

And they had no idea where they were.

Frisk took out their phone and started walking forward absentmindedly. There were several worried texts from Toriel.

Frisk typed in, "I'm okay. I saw a monster on the other side of the river. One I didn't recognize."

"Careful," Flowey warned as Frisk nearly walked into a fallen branch.

Frisk looked away from their phone as they trampled through the underbrush, their clothes occasionally getting caught in the bushes.

Their phone went off again. They looked and saw it was another text from Toriel that said, "A monster out here? That's odd. But that's not important! Are you all right!? Where are you!?"

Frisk typed and sent a reply that said, "I'm fine, but I'm not sure where I am. I'm somewhere in the forest across the river."

They put their phone back in their pocket as they resumed walking forward. After a minute, they passed a rotting log.

"Wait," Flowey said.

Frisk stopped. "What is it?"

Flowey pointed with his head to something on the other side of the log. Frisk looked over and saw an enormous hole in the ground. It was too big to be the entrance to an animal's burrow, and the hole slanted to one side. It wasn't a straight drop down.

Before Flowey could try to stop them, Frisk vaulted over the log and landed in the hole, sliding down the slanted bottom.

When they came to a stop, Flowey fiercely whispered, "What the hell did you do that for!?"

Frisk stood up. "I wanted to see what was down here."

"Is that how you fell into the Underground?"

Frisk didn't answer. Instead, they walked forward, soon running into a black cloth that was hanging down. They pushed it aside and came into a little room.

The small room had a low ceiling and was lit by crystals. There was a table against a wall and some bits of clothing and trinkets scattered around the room.

 _ *** Looks like this is where that monster's been living.**_

Frisk took a few steps forward as they looked around. Their foot bumped into a toy ball that rattled as it rolled.

Frisk flinched as a voice said, "Oh Charlie, is that you?"

A pink ghost suddenly appeared. They stared at Frisk for several moments before saying, "You're not Charlie…"

"No," Frisk said, "I'm not."

"Who's Charlie?" Flowey asked.

The ghost didn't answer, continuing to stare at them.

Finally, the ghost said, "You look like you're a human, but…that flower… Are you…like Charlie?"

Frisk was confused. "I…don't get what you mean by that."

Flowey said, "Is Charlie a little gray monster with small, pointed ears?"

The ghost said, "Yes… Did you see him earlier?"

"We did, but he ran away."

"Oh, well, that's perfectly understandable. Monsters and humans have been enemies for over half my life."

"Not anymore," Frisk interrupted. "The barrier is broken."

The ghost's eyes appeared to get wider. "It is?"

"Yes," Flowey said. "Thanks to this kid, it's been down for a while now."

"R-Really!?"

"Yes," Frisk said. "All the monsters are free and are living next to the humans."

The ghost gave a joyful squeal and began doing loops in the air. "That's even better than I would've hoped for!"

The ghost suddenly stopped. "Although…" They gave Frisk a look of suspicion. "How do I know that that's true?"

Before Frisk could say anything, the voice of a young boy said, "Margle? What's going on?"

0~*~0

Toriel anxiously waited on the other side of the river, staring out over the tree bridge, watching for any movement. She figured that she probably should've gone after Frisk the moment she realized they were gone, but there was no way the fallen tree would hold her weight, and she didn't know of any other bridges across the river, especially ones that were nearby. And what if Frisk came back while she was looking for a proper bridge?

She was relieved when Frisk had finally answered one of her texts, but she became concerned again when they didn't text again for several minutes afterwards.

Just then, she got another text from Frisk. It said, "We're coming back. Be there soon."

Toriel texted back, "We?"

There was no response.

 _How odd… Oh wait, Flowey was with them. Perhaps they could also mean the other monster they mentioned._

After a few more minutes, Toriel noticed something moving in the underbrush on the other side of the river. A ghost, Frisk, and an unfamiliar monster appeared and began to cross the tree bridging the river. Flowey's head was sticking out of Frisk's backpack.

The moment Frisk and the other monster had stepped off, Toriel went over to Frisk and said, "Don't ever do that again."

"S-Sorry, mom…" Frisk said, looking down sheepishly.

"Oh, it's quite all right!" The ghost interrupted. "If not for this child, we wouldn't have found out about the fall of the barrier."

"…I see. Who are you?" Toriel asked.

"I am Margle," the ghost answered with a flourish. "And this," they gestured to the small monster, "is Charlie."

Charlie was unlike any monster Toriel had seen before. He was covered in short, gray fur, had cat-like ears, and his facial features were a mix of a human's and a boss monster's. He seemed to be young, being about the same height as Frisk. He looked nervous.

"Please excuse his shyness," Margle continued. "I taught him to run from strangers, a valuable asset in a world of hostile humans."

"Well," Toriel said, "most humans have been quite accepting of us."

Margle tilted to the side. "Most?"

"Some were not very…welcoming towards monsters. But on the whole, there's been a very positive reception to us."

"If it's not too much to ask," Margle said, "I would like to see where the other monsters are living."

"It's not too much to ask at all," Toriel replied. "But first, we must get out of this forest."

"Let me lead the way. I know this forest as well as my puppet's body."

Toriel looked…weirded out. "Your…puppet?"

"You'll see later."

0~*~0

"F-Frisk…" Charlie said hesitantly. "I-I'm not sure this is a good idea…"

"It'll be okay, Charlie," Frisk said, holding his hand to reassure him. "They're really nice."

Margle and Toriel had apparently decided to talk in private, so they had sent the two children out of the house. Frisk decided to take advantage of this and introduce Charlie to the other monsters.

They stopped in front of a large, white building. The word "Laboratory" was on a sign above the door.

"Frisk…" Charlie mumbled, "what's a…'laboratory?'"

Frisk contemplated how to tell him before saying, "They can explain it to you."

"Th-They?"

"It'll be okay. I promise."

The doors to the lab slid open as the two of them approached. Charlie flinched, but Frisk pulled him forward.

The doors led to a long hallway lined with more doors. Some were closed while others were empty. Charlie kept pausing to look through the empty doorways, but Frisk kept pulling him forward. The hallway occasionally branched off or made a turn, but Frisk kept going.

They eventually got to what looked like a larger hallway. Along one wall were some tables and at large computer.

"Dr. Oswaldo!" Frisk called out.

After a few moments, a voice called out, "Be there in a moment!"

Charlie flinched again and tried to pull away, but Frisk held tight to his hand.

After a minute, a young man ran out one of the doors. "HELLO, FRISK!"

He stopped about ten feet away from the children.

"HOW MAY I HELP YOU TODAY!?" he boomed.

"I want to introduce someone to you," Frisk said calmly.

They turned back to Charlie, who was crouched behind them, trembling.

"This is Charlie. He's very shy."

"Charlie?" Oswaldo said. "My name is Oswaldo Maturana. I'm not going to hurt you."

Charlie looked up a bit, enough to make eye contact with the man. "Why are you wearing that white jacket?"

"It's my lab coat. It's a sign of my occupation."

"Occu…what?"

"My job. What I do for a living."

"What is your…job?" He still sounded scared.

"I am a scientist."

"What's a…scientist?"

"A scientist is someone who studies science. How the world works," Oswaldo explained as he began to walk back and forth. "There are many different kinds of scientists. There are ones who study the earth, ones who study water, ones who study the air, and so on. I study the monsters, so other humans may better understand them."

"Why is your skin that color?"

Oswaldo stopped. "My…what?"

"Your skin. Why is it that color?"

"I am Hispanic." Oswaldo looked and sounded offended. "And for your future reference, it's generally rude to casually ask people about their skin color unless it's a very odd color."

"Your skin is an odd color…"

Oswaldo looked at Frisk. "Frisk, where did you find this kid?"

"He was living in a forest with a ghost. Not the forest nearby, a forest at least an hour's drive from here. And they apparently taught him to stay away from people."

"I see. In that case, be sure to teach him about human skin colors when you get a chance."

Before either of them could respond, another voice called out, "H-Hello? Is s-someone there?"

Someone else came out the door Oswaldo had come in through. This time, it was a monster that looked like a yellow dinosaur or lizard wearing glasses and a lab coat.

"Oh, hi, Frisk," she said.

"Hi, Alphys," Frisk said back.

As she approached them, Alphys noticed the monster hiding behind Frisk. "Oh. F-Frisk, who's…?"

"This is Charlie. I found him living with a ghost in some woods about an hour's drive from here. He's very shy."

Charlie peeked out from behind Frisk, the sight of another monster making him feel more at ease. "Hi."

"H-Hello. I'm Alphys. I'm Dr. Maturana's assistant."

"A-Assistant?"

"I help him with his studies."

"W-Why are you assisting him?"

"He, uh, asked me to. He was sent here to study the monsters, so it'd make s-sense to have a monster as an assistant. I used to be a scientist myself, but, uh, that didn't…go very well…"

"That's not what I meant…"

"What did you m-mean?"

"A…Aren't humans and monsters supposed to be enemies?"

"Not anymore. We actually have a lot in common."

Charlie came out a little more. "Oh."

Alphys stared at him for a bit. "Uh… If you don't mind me asking… What kind of monster are you? I've…never seen anything quite like you before."

"I don't know. Margle doesn't know either, and she knows a lot."

"Margle?"

"The ghost that raised me."

"Oh."

There was a silence that lasted for a few seconds before Alphys said, "Is there…anything, uh…that you can do that others can't?"

Oswaldo raised an eyebrow.

Charlie shuffled a bit before saying, "There is…one thing…but…I'm not sure if I should show you…"

"What is it?" Alphys asked.

"I can, uh…"

"WASSUP, NERDS!?"

 **Author's note: If I don't update before August 22, then that means I wasn't able to finish the next chapter before I went back to college. After August 22, I have no idea if I'll have the time or motivation to work on this fic for the rest of the semester. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope.**


	3. The skeleton brothers

**I welcome constructive criticism.**

Undyne practically barged into the room, grinning like a maniac. If there had been a door, it would've been nearly ripped off the wall.

Charlie shrieked and jumped behind Frisk again as they turned around to face Undyne. Her grin fell the moment she heard the scream.

She stood there for a few moments before saying, "Was that too much?"

"You definitely scared Charlie," Frisk answered.

"Who's Charlie?"

Frisk stepped aside to reveal the other child.

Undyne looked a bit guilty. "Oh. Sorry about that, kid." She looked up at Alphys and Oswaldo. "What's with the freaked-out expressions?"

Frisk turned around to look at the two. Alphys looked completely dumbfounded while Oswaldo looked like he was about to scream.

"Wha… Wha… Wha… Ha… How… Wha…" Oswaldo stammered as he made hand gestures in Charlie's direction.

"What's wrong?" Frisk asked.

Alphys pointed at Charlie. Frisk looked at him. But instead of a monster, a human child was hunched down.

"Charlie?"

The child looked up. He looked like a human version of Charlie. "Yes?"

"How!?" Oswaldo exclaimed. "How did you-!?"

The boy looked at his hands. "Did I turn into a human?"

"Turn…into…a human?" Alphys repeated.

"What's going on?" Undyne asked, sounding very confused.

The boy grew gray fur, cat ears popped out of his head, and a short snout extended from his face. He was definitely Charlie.

"…Did I just watch a kid turn into a monster?"

"Yes…" Charlie replied sheepishly.

Undyne stared uncomprehendingly. "What? Is going? On?"

"M-Mind explaining h-how long you've been able to d-do that?" Alphys asked.

Charlie stood up and fiddled with his fingers. "Uh… Since I was born, I guess. I…don't remember how I found out about it. Margle said she startled me by accident and it just happened. I-I don't know if I actually turn into a human or if it's just an illusion… But it's been really useful in avoiding getting caught by humans! Though there was that one time where I was found and taken to a…group home… But I got out and nobody found out I was actually a monster, so I guess it was okay…"

Oswaldo said, "Is this something you can control or is it automatic?"

Charlie looked confused for a bit. "Uh… I can control it, but sometimes I take on a human appearance without meaning to when I get scared or nervous."

"I have…NEVER heard of a monster being able to do that," Alphys said. "I…didn't even know it was p-possible…"

"Well… I can't explain it," Charlie said, shaking his head. "As I said, not even Margle can explain it, and she knows a lot of things."

"Like what?" Oswaldo inquired, running a hand through his short, black hair.

"Uh… She knows who the first skeletons were and how they were created, she knows about the secret monster village in a cave, about a fish monster who killed his parents because of a prophesy, about the Enchanted SOULs…"

"Enchanted SOULs?" Alphys repeated.

"Really powerful human SOULs. Margle can tell you more."

"Where's Margle?"

Just then, Frisk's phone went off. They scrambled to get it out of their pocket and accepted the call without looking to see who it was.

"Hello?"

" _My child, where are you?"_ It was Toriel.

"We're at the lab."

" _Why are you there? I thought you'd be playing in the yard."_

"I wanted Charlie to meet the others…"

Toriel sighed. _"…Well, Margle and I are heading back to the forest to retrieve some of her and Charlie's belongings. She wants to move in with the other monsters. We should be back in a few hours."_

"Okay."

" _In the meantime, please head over to Sans and Papyrus' house."_

"Okay. I-"

" _And stay there until we get back."_

"Okay. Sorry."

" _Text me once you're there. Goodbye."_

"Bye mom."

The call ended and Frisk put the phone back in their pocket.

"I have to go visit Sans and Papyrus for a few hours," they announced.

"I'm going with you," Charlie said quickly, taking a step towards them.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for some tests?" Oswaldo asked.

"I'm sure," Charlie said as he grabbed onto Frisk. "I'm very sure."

Charlie then started dragging Frisk out of the room. Frisk waved at the others as they left.

"Another time, then…" Oswaldo said with a hint of dismay.

Once the two children were out of the room, Undyne said, "What just happened?"

0~*~0

Charlie let go of Frisk once they were outside the lab. "I'll…I'll let you lead us there."

Frisk adjusted their shirt. "Why did you want to leave so quickly?"

"I don't know what they mean by 'tests,' but I have a bad feeling about it," Charlie said.

Frisk opened their mouth to explain what the tests would likely consist of, but realized that it would be hard to explain them to Charlie, so they didn't say anything.

"Besides, I'm…more willing to trust you than them."

Frisk tilted their head. "Why?"

Charlie looked off to the side. "Margle trusts you. And…she also said that children are less likely to have malicious intentions than adults."

Frisk had no response.

Eventually, Charlie said, "Um… You wanna get going?"

"Y-Yeah, sure."

Frisk sent a quick text to Papyrus that said, "I'm coming over with a friend," before heading off.

0~*~0

Sans and Papyrus' house was at the corner of a block. It looked exactly like their house in Snowdin (and may even have been said house), down to the snow on the roof. The only difference was the addition of a separate garage where Papyrus' car was stored.

As they approached the house, Charlie asked, "What are Sans and Papyrus like?"

"They're skeleton brothers. Papyrus is loud, but he's very nice. He's really fun. Sans is, uh…"

"Is…what?"

"He's…pretty laid-back, but you don't wanna get on his bad side."

"'Laid-back?' What does that mean?"

"…You'll see when we get there."

When they got to the front door, Frisk pushed the doorbell, causing a dogbark tune to sound out.

Charlie jumped back. "Wh-Wh-What was that!?"

"That's a doorbell," Frisk answered. "It lets people inside the house when someone's at the door."

"Wouldn't knocking work?"

"Doorbells are louder."

Before Charlie could say anything, the door flung open and a jovial voice said, "HELLO FRISK!"

Charlie once again cowered behind Frisk. A tall and lanky skeleton was standing in the doorway, seeming to smile widely. He was wearing an orange cape, an orange long-sleeved shirt, and jeans.

"Hi Papyrus," Frisk greeted.

"should've let us know you were comin' over, kiddo," a voice from inside the house said.

"THEY DID, SANS!" Papyrus said back. "BUT YOU WERE ASLEEP!"

"…oh. nevermind."

Papyrus turned back to Frisk and sighed. "SORRY ABOUT THAT, FRISK… ANYWAY, YOU SAID YOU WERE COMING OVER WITH A FRIEND, CORRECT?"

Frisk once again stepped aside to reveal the curled-up Charlie.

"HELLO, FRISK'S NEW FRIEND!"

Charlie cautiously looked up.

"THERE'S NO NEED TO BE SHY, FRISK'S NEW FRIEND!"

"His name is Charlie," said Frisk.

"THERE'S NO NEED TO BE SHY, CHARLIE!"

"Why are you wearing that?" Charlie asked, sounding suspicious.

"BECAUSE MY BOSS DOES NOT USUALLY ALLOW ME TO WEAR MY BATTLE BODY AT WORK. SHE SAYS THAT IT IS 'IMPROPER ATTIRE.'"

"Battle…body?"

"COME IN AND I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Frisk took Charlie by the hand and led him inside.

The layout of the inside of the house was also exactly the same as their house in Snowdin, aside from some additional furniture they had gotten since moving to the surface. A shorter and chubbier skeleton wearing a blue zip-up hoodie was lying on a green couch in front of a large TV. It was currently muted.

Charlie stared at the TV. "What is that?"

"THAT IS CALLED A TELEVISION OR TV FOR SHORT. IT ALLOWS YOU TO WATCH SHOWS FOR ENTERTAINMENT OR NEWS FOR INFORMATION!"

"Oh…"

The skeleton on the couch gave a brief wave. "heya. who's the new kid?"

"His name is Charlie," said Frisk. They then explained how they had found Charlie and Margle and taken them back to town.

Sans was somewhat sitting up, having a definite interest. "huh. interesting. never would've thought there'd be monsters that escaped bein' trapped in the underground."

"Oh, uh," Charlie muttered, "I think Margle and I were the only ones living outside. Margle's a ghost, and it's impossible to kill a ghost, so she would be okay."

"what about you?"

"Uh… Margle said that she found me in a ditch on the side of a road. She took me home and raised me."

"you were abandoned?"

Frisk gave a sympathetic look at Charlie as he continued. "Yes. My parents might be alive, but I don't know."

"HOW COULD A GHOST RAISE YOU? THEY'RE INCORPOREAL."

"M-Margle has a puppet body that she can go into. She only goes into it when she needs to."

"only when she needs to?"

"She doesn't like being corporeal. You'd, uh, have to ask her."

Neither of the skeletons asked any more questions, and the topic didn't come up again.

Papyrus, as his way of welcoming Charlie, decided to cook spaghetti.

As Frisk and Charlie waited, Frisk turned to Charlie and asked, "What do you think of them so far?"

Charlie had a far-off look in his eyes. "Sans is a little weird and Papyrus is loud. Not as much as the fish woman, but still."

Frisk couldn't help but nod. The two skeletons did take a bit of getting used to. Although…

"How is Sans weird?" they asked.

Said skeleton had long since relocated to his room, so he likely didn't hear Charlie reply, "There's just something…off about him. I can't describe what it is."

"He can be very creepy when he wants to be."

"I wouldn't say he's creepy…" Charlie then gave Frisk a look, as though he had realized something.

Frisk didn't get a chance to answer, because at that exact moment, Papyrus cheerfully called out, "THE SPAGHETTI IS READY!"

When Charlie saw the spaghetti, he said, "This doesn't look safe to eat."

While Papyrus had made some progress with cooking since coming to the surface, he still wasn't very good.

Aside from a brief twitch in the corner of his mouth, it didn't seem to deter Papyrus. "SOMETIMES WHAT LOOKS THE MOST UNAPPETIZING IS THE MOST DELICIOUS!"

Charlie didn't look at all convinced, but he tried the spaghetti anyway…by leaning over and biting into it right off the plate. He chewed it for a few seconds before making a disgusted expression and spitting it back onto the plate.

"I don't know what 'spaghetti' is supposed to taste like, but I don't think it's supposed to taste like _this._ "

Papyrus looked stunned, as though he had no idea how to react. After a few seconds, he took on an annoyed expression. "CHARLIE! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SPIT IT OUT LIKE THAT! IT'S GROSS! AND YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT SPAGHETTI WITH A FORK!"

Charlie, his tongue partially hanging out, said, "What I eat it with and how wouldn't change the taste."

Frisk was also stunned. Not by Charlie's table manners, but at how blunt he was being. Usually, people either refused to eat it or humored Papyrus and tried to hide the taste (if he didn't misinterpret it first).

"SIGH. GUESS WE'LL HAVE TO GO WITH PLAN B!"

With that, Papyrus grabbed Charlie's plate and left the room.

The two children left behind stared at each other for a few moments before Charlie said, "Frisk… How is he able to handle how that… _thing_ tastes?"

Frisk shrugged. "I guess he got used to it?"

"You 'guess?' How does he normally react?"

Frisk was at a loss for words.

"Frisk?"

"…I…don't know if I've ever actually seen him eat spaghetti before."

Charlie looked up at the ceiling. "Can we go to someone else's house?"

"No," Frisk replied, "we can't. Mom said so."

Charlie sighed. "These next few hours are going to be interesting…"

 **Author's note: I guess there was an unexpected benefit to not finishing this chapter until after the one-year anniversary.**


End file.
